Microwaveable

A microwave oven, or microwave, is a kitchen appliance that can come in many different sizes and styles employing microwave radiation primarily to cook or heat food. more...

This is accomplished by using microwaves, almost always emitted from a magnetron, to excite water (primarily) and other polarized molecules within the food to be heated. This excitation is fairly uniform, leading to food being heated everywhere all at once (except in thick objects), a feature not seen in any other heating technique.

Although microwave radiation in and of itself can be dangerous, when used properly these devices heat food quickly, efficiently, and safely.

Microwave ovens have revolutionized food preparation since their use became widespread in the 1970s.

History

Cooking food with microwaves was not discovered by Percy Spencer while building magnetrons for radar sets at Raytheon. He was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a peanut chocolate bar he had in his pocket started to melt. The radar had melted his candy bar with microwaves. The first food to be deliberately cooked with Spencer's microwave was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters. To verify his theory, Spencer created a high density electromagnetic field by feeding microwave power into a metal box which it had no way to escape. When food was placed in the box with the microwave energy, the temperature of the food rose rapidly.

On October 8, 1945 Raytheon filed a U.S. patent for Spencer's microwave cooking process and an oven that heated food using microwave energy was placed in a Boston restaurant for testing. In 1947, the company built the Radarange, the first microwave in the World..It was almost 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, weighed 750 pounds (340 kg) and cost about $5000 each. It consumed 3000 watts, about three times as much as today's microwave ovens, and was water-cooled. An early commercial model introduced in 1954 consumed 1600 watts and sold for $2,000 to $3,000. Raytheon licensed its technology to the Tappan Stove company in 1952. They tried to market a large, 220 volt, wall unit as a home microwave oven in 1955 for a price of $1,295, but it did not sell well. In 1965 Raytheon acquired Amana, which introduced the first popular home model, the countertop Radarange in 1967 at a price of $495.

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